VOX: CLASS OF '96

1. Trash - Suede

Although not the first song to be recorded by Suede Mk2 - that was the fantastic New Generation B-side 'Together' - Trash was the band's big comeback after Bernard Butler's departure. Trash became an immediate anthem and hit #3 in the UK Chart becoming their biggest single in the process. Despite its classic status, Brett Andersom felt the need to re-record the vocals for the song's inclusion on their 2003 Singles collection so if you're listening to Trash on that compilation and you think it sounds different, that's why. This is the track in its original glory.

2. Smart Dogs - Kula Shaker

Enough time has passed to begrudgingly give Kula Shaker credit where its due. When Crispian Mills' outspoken, usually comical, attitude reached an excruciating climax with his Swastika flirtations, the music of Kula Shaker was written off as quickly as Mills and the band quickly became a byword for pretentious, bombastic indie music - their Hare Krishna leanings not helping their cause. But, whisper it, Kula Shaker weren't so bad at all, their psychedelic Indian-inflected rock has stood the test of time reasonably well, Smart Dogs being a highlight on their debut #1 album. The god-awful Deep Purple cover and inviting crazy old Arthur Brown  on to Top Of The Pops with a giant candleabra on his head didn't do them any favours after Swastika-gate and the band died a death. However, like most bands of the era who passed away, they found a way back and continue to plug away in Japan and Cumbria.

3. If You're Thinking Of Me (FPS-2 Lovesick Mix) - Dodgy

A huge crossover summer hit usually signifies the end of indie bands and Dodgy were no exception, their cause not helped by having a portly, comedy drummer. And, like most bands, they were misunderstood, Dodgy being one of the best indie power pop bands in the business with a wealth of singles-that-should-have-been-bigger to their name. They also had an experimental side, their B-sides regularly dabbling in their own take on remix culture. This almost resulted in their own remix album. FPS-2, the entire album Free Peace Sweet remixed by cohort Jerome Di Pietro. Despite the sleevenotes on this release indicating that the album would be released "sometime in 1997" with an explanation of how the album was made, it never saw the light of day as planned. It gained a belated release on the special edition of their singles collection Ace As & Killer Bs.

4. Oh Yeah - Ash

Oh Yeah was the fifth single to be lifted from the band's #1 album, 1977 but the only single to be released after the album itself. The track became the band's fourth Top 20 and second Top 10 hit charting at #6 - the same week, incidentally, that Kula Shaker charted at #4 with Trout Farm....sorry, Tattva....so blame Crispian Mills for robbing Ash of a second consecutive Top 5 hit.

5.  Things Keep Falling Off Buildings - Mansun

A track taken from the band's Three EP which provided Chester's finest with their first Top 20 hit charting at #19 in September 1996. The EP also contained lead track Stripper Vicar and An Open Letter To A Lyrical Trainspotter, both of which can be found on the classic debut Attack Of The Grey Lantern, the latter included as a hidden track at the end of the album.

6. Icicle - Tiger

The fickle world of indie...huge things were expected of Tiger. Their debut release Shining In The Wood gained huge support from John Peel and the Evening Session resulting in their second EP Race hitting the Top 40. And then, maybe it was the music press focussing on the band's mullets rather than the music, all interest sapped away. Subsequent releases only grazed the Top 75 and the album We Are Puppets, released to a muted reception, could only manage a chart placing of #108. A second album was released in 2000 but that's where the Tiger tale ends. This track was taken from their second single My Puppet Pal.

7. No One Speaks - Geneva

It's 1996 so of course there's a Geneva track on here...what did you expect? This was their much talked about debut single which cracked the Top 40 at #32. The band did have three more Top 40 hits but interest soon wore off. Andrew Montgomery's soaring choirboy-esque vocals proved too much of an acquired taste in the long run...which is why he must really hate Keane (like most people).

8. Woman Of The World - The Divine Comedy

The smallest man in rock, Neil Hannon, IS The Divine Comedy despite attempting to turn the Divine Comedy into a proper band over the years.  The album Casanova was released in 1996 and interest in Hannon had significantly increased since his previous album two years earlier thanks to him recording the theme tune to sitcom Father Ted and the legendary mock-Eurovision song My Lovely Horse as featured in the same show. This attention, and strong tracks such as Something For The Weekend and Becoming More Like Alfie, meant Divine Comedy finally broke through. This track is featured on Casanova.

9. Money (Lost In Space Remix) - Space

Money was the first single to be released from the band's debut album Spiders, a test release, presumably to gauge interest in the band. This remix, by Consolidated, is exclusive on CD to this release having originally been pressed on a four track limited 12" in 1996.

10. Hometown Unicorn - Super Furry Animals.

SFA released two EPs on the Welsh ANkst label in 1995 and were quickly signed by Creation who released this debut single in 1996. This release charted well at #47 before a record breaking run of Top 40 hits...as documented elswehere on TheFreeEPs. Hometwon Unicorn, a classic debut in every sense, was featured on the debut album Fuzzy Logic.

11. Christiansands (Imposter's Mix) - Tricky

After the huge success of Maxinquaye, Tricky made it clear that he was no record company puppet and no commercial artist by releasing that album's follow up under a pseudonym, Nearly God. The official follow-up Pre Millennium Tension was a dark, uncompromising release which scared off the majority of buyers who bought into the Maxinquaye era Tricky. The album's lead single, the moody and captivating Christiansands, made it clear from the outset that Tricky didn't care about commercial success. The single charted at #36 and the album only hit #30 though both are considered modern day classics. This version was remixed by the same Imposter who scored a Top 20 hit with Pills And Soap n 1983...one Elvis Costello.

NME: INDEPENDENT AND ALL STILL TAKING LIBERTIES (1998)

1. Dumb - Garbage

Garbage were founded by legendary Nirvana producer Butch Vig and had flame-haired ex Goodbye Mr Mackenzie siren Shirley Manson up front so they were never doomed to failure. This is taken from the band's second #album Version 2.0 which produced 5 top 20 hits.


2. Suffocate - Feeder


Starting off life as an acoustic ballad on Feeder's debut album, Polythene, Suffocate was re-recorded and given the full epic strings and all treatment for a stand alone single release in 1998. Despite the heavily commercial sound, the single only crept into the Top 40 at  #37, though had this been released a few years later would  have been in no doubt a Top 10 hit. The single version is included here and was also featured on their Singles compilation.


3. A.M. 180 - Grandaddy


The most well known track on media darlings' Grandaddy's Under The Western Freeway album. One of four singles released from the album, this peaked at #104 in the UK chart. Although they always remained a cult concern, their following album, The Sophtware Slump, would see them attain a degree of commercial success. AM 180 can also be heard in the film 28 Days Later.


4. Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds


Of all Cave's many tracks spanning the last four decades, this is probably the one everyone knows having been used in a variety of films and television programmes - usually those involving bloody deaths and murder. The track was originally released on Cave's 1994 Top 10 album Let Love In and hit #68 on UK single release the same year.

5. The Dancer - Naomi

Despite supporting Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and, er, Hurricane #1 and coverage in the music weeklies, success wasn't to be for Naomi, who now performs under the name Naomi Phoenix. This was taken from her only album, Liquid.

6. Buddy - Snapper

Indie rock from New Zealand taken from the soundtrack of the film 'Topless Women Talk About Their Lives'. Snapper themselves released two albums in 1992 and 1996.

7. Tonite It Shows - Mercury Rev

Another appearance from Deserter's Songs - V2 rinsed the album dry with 4 single releases in the UK alone and sold on every other magazine covermount. Good job the album is a timeless classic...

8. Derwent River Star - The Paradise Motel

Experimental pop from Australia, this was taken from their second album Flight Paths. Despite disbanding at the turn of the millennium, the band recently reformed

9. Take Me Back - Babybird

Much misunderstood, on release of the ubiquitous You're Gorgeous in 1996, not many people knew that Stephen Jones had released five albums in the year leading up to their  breakthrough containing lo-fi, experimental alternative music. Jones' commercial reign continued for the next couple of years culminating in his 1998 release, There's Something Going On. However, Jones killed off the album by releasing the fiercely uncommercial Bad Old Man as its lead single; by the time two more radio friendly singles had been released, despite them both charting higher, momentum had been lost and Babybird never regained their mainstream popularity. Take Me Back is from that album which peaked at #28 in 1998.  Babybird continue and with royalty cheques pouring in from THAT single and for The F Word, now theme tune to the TV show of the same name, Jones won't care much about not selling many records anymore.

10. Hexagon Eye - Cable

Cable's 1997 single Freeze The Atlantic should have provided them with a big hit after its heavy usage on a Sprite commercial. Instead, the single stalled at #44 and the band eventually split after the release of their second album Sub-Lingual containing this track.

11. The Underdogs- Rialto

Formed from the ashes of Kinky Machine, Rialto were a poor man's Pulp who received considerable promotion and press attention around their eponymous album. On the verge of big things after the Top 40 success of singles Untouchable and Monday Morning 5:19, the record company politics delayed  the album and it stalled at #21 with no further single successes. More albums followed but it was a case of Sales, 519.

12. Search's End - The Wiseguys

Forever ingrained in the public's consciouness thanks to Ooh La La and Start The Commotion from various commercials and movies, Wiseguys also released an album, The Antidote, containing this piece of work.

13. Heavy Transit - Sound 5

Sound 5 were formed from two members of early 90s acid rave pop group Candy Flip who were most famous for their trippy version of Strawberry Fields Forever. Despite tremendous radio play for Sound 5's debut single, the Lightning Seeds-esque Ala Kaboo, the band never caught on and their album No Illicit Dancing sank without trace.

14. Attack - Jon Spencer Blues Explosion

Closing track from the punk blues' stalwarts sixth album Acme, released at the height of their mid to late 90s commercial success.

15. The Rhyme - The Strike Boys

The Strike Boys are a German electronic duo who have released four albums, a bunch of 12"s and created a score of remixes over the last 15 years. This is from their debut album Selected Funks. Released a single on Wall Of Sound, The Rhyme reached #179 in the UK chart.

16. Number Cruncher (The Porridge Gun Mix) - The Egg

The one exclusive on this CD is this remix of a track originally available on The Egg's album Travelator. Always an underground electronic band, The Egg scored a surprise Top 3 hit in 2006 when the Tocadisco remix of their track Walking Away was mashed up with David Guetta's Love Don't Let Me Go.

17. Disco Dolly - Space

For a couple of years, Liverpool's Space were one of the UK's biggest bands. Their album Spiders had produced 4 big hits and their second album Tin Planet started off well with two more Top 10 singles and a spot in the Top 3. Then it all suddenly went very pear shaped; the album's popularity was very short lived and guitarist Jamie Murphy soon suffered a very public meltdown. A new single, Diary Of A Wimp,  in 2000, unexpectedly bombed when it only hit #48 and Gut Records refused to release what would have been their third album. Perhaps one of the biggest riches to rags stories in 90s indie, Space never recovered and one neglected album later in 2004, Space were no more. Still, their hits were big enough to warrant sufficient incoming royalties for a while yet...Disco Dolly was featured on the Tin Planet album and actually should have been released as the third single.